E-Commerce Platform Selection Among UiTM Students by Using Graph Theory and Matrix Approach (GTMA)

Abstract

There are a variety of e-commerce platforms to make a business, each with a different set of features. Most e-commerce research believes that these features are all independent of one another. Previous research on e-commerce platforms focused on specific features and ignored the most popular platforms. Instead, they tended to simply list all the platforms without ranking them in order of preference. This study aims to identify and rank the preferred online shopping platform among students based on selected attributes using the Graph Theory and Matrix Approach (GTMA). Data were collected from the survey that has been distributed to all KPPIM students. Using GTMA to develop a weighted graph assuming all attributes are dependent on each other and formulate a relative importance matrix using the arithmetic mean (average). The e-commerce platforms were then ranked using preference index values calculated using the permanent function. As a result, six selected attributes and twelve e-commerce platforms are determined, and the ranking for the most preferred e-commerce platform are obtain. In conclusion, Food Panda is the top-ranking e-commerce site among KPPIM students, followed by Grab, TikTok, Shopee, Zalora, Lazada, Shein, Carousell, Amazon, eBay, Mudah, and Facebook coming in last. As UiTM's current mission is to become a globally renowned university of science, technology, humanities, and entrepreneurship, this result can be useful in letting UiTM know which students have engaged in online business.